


rocks, stones, walls, us

by Phoenix_Allura (Artemis_Autumn_Marie)



Series: Nix's Whumptober 2019 [16]
Category: The Maze Runner Series - All Media Types, The Maze Runner Series - James Dashner
Genre: Comfort, Gen, Getting Together, Happy Ending, Hurt Minho, Hurt Thomas (Maze Runner), Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Not Canon Compliant, POV Minho, Whumptober 2019, maze runner - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-22
Updated: 2020-02-22
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:48:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22852771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Artemis_Autumn_Marie/pseuds/Phoenix_Allura
Summary: Whumptober Day 16: Pinned DownTo say Minho is anxious about letting the Greenie/his new friend/his crush into the Maze alone is an understatement.By a lot.But he has no choice.
Relationships: Alby/Newt (Maze Runner), Minho/Thomas (Maze Runner)
Series: Nix's Whumptober 2019 [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1507226
Comments: 2
Kudos: 70





	rocks, stones, walls, us

Minho’s nervous, and he knows it’s showing.

“He’ll be fine, Minho. It’s only for a few days.” Newt tries saying.

It doesn’t help.

He’s sending Thomas into the Maze, alone, today.

“If I hadn’t gone and sprained my ankle--”

“I’ll be fine, Minho. What could go wrong?”

Minho can think of many, many, things that can go wrong. At least it’s only for a few days.

“Stop pining and just tell you him you like him already.” Newt nudges his shoulder lightly as Thomas walks away.

“He just got here--”

“And he survived a night in the Maze right after he got here. He’s going to be fine.” Minho watches anyway, waiting until Thomas has turned the corner into the Maze.

And he doesn’t relax until he sees Thomas jog in, safe, a good half hour before all the other Runners.

“So, you’re a speedy little shank on your own.” Minho meets him in the Map Room.

“Guess so.” Thomas shrugs, wipes his face with his shirt. “What’d you do all day?”

“Nothing much. I’m not ‘cleared’ for gardening or anything like that, so I get to sit around and worry.” Minho rolls his eyes. Clint is being overly cautious, gardening won’t make his ankle any worse.

“Sounds boring.”

“It is. You would stink at it.”

“I would’ve snuck into the Maze today, ankle or no.” Thomas laughs, but Minho can see in his eyes that it’s the truth.

He doesn’t think Thomas has had a fully calm day in the Glade, one where everything runs as it should.

That worries him more than it should.

“When you’re done drawing up your map, we’ll go bug Frypan.” Minho claps Thomas on the back and frowns. “And if you’re lucky I’ll give you a massage. Shuck, Thomas, your back is tight.” He can  _ feel  _ it, the too-taut muscles under Thomas’s skin; like he hasn’t relaxed at all since getting here.

Like Thomas is stressing about something big.

Maybe something had happened, and that’s why Thomas is back early.

“I’m fine, Minho. Food and sleep are all I need.” But after they eat, Thomas lets Minho take him up to Minho’s room in the Homestead.

There will be rumors before night falls, but Minho doesn’t care about that. Thomas refuses to take his shirt off, so Minho doesn’t press the issue and instead tries to get the knots out of his back.

“Thomas, I’ve never dealt with this many knots in one person at one time,” Minho tells him, and Thomas snarks right back.

“Oh, so you bring all the pretty boys up here for a massage?”

“What-- Thomas, no!”

“I’m teasing, Min. Alby told me this morning.”

“Told you what?” Minho knew already.

“That you like me. Said he was tired of our longing stares and to get together already.”

“Well, in that case…” Minho will be having words with Alby later, but for now, he flips Thomas so he’s laying on his back. “We can both sleep up here tonight.”

“What?”

“You said you needed food and sleep. You had food, now sleep.” They can talk in the morning.

But they don’t, because Minho sleeps late, and Thomas is already in the Maze when he wakes up.

It’s harder to handle today than it was yesterday.

But Thomas comes back, early again, and he makes his map and eats dinner with Minho and Newt, who teases them endlessly.

“We need to talk, Thomas.”

“About?”

“Well, what are we going to be?”

“What do you mean?”

“Are we boyfriends, friends?” This is more awkward than Minho had thought it would be.

“You’re taking me on a date before we’re boyfriends,” Thomas says immediately, before resting his head on Minho’s chest and falling asleep.

The next day, Minho’s last day of being on ‘medical leave’, they wake up together, and Thomas kisses him shyly on the cheek before he leaves. Minho can wait one more day before their date; he can wait through today because he has a date to plan.

Not that there’s much to plan. The most they can do is go have a picnic in the Deadheads.

“What are you doing, shank?” Newt bumps their shoulders together roughly.

“Planning.”

“Planning what?”

“A date.”

“You finally said something to Thomas?”

“Alby told him; we’ve been talking about it. He told me we couldn’t be boyfriends until we’d gone on a date.”

“Good for him.” Newt laughs at him. “Well, go plan. Thomas will be back in a few hours.” Minho talks to Frypan and gets his promised silence on the matter, and Fry-who has a soft spot for Thomas-says he’ll make them something special. After that, it’s just picking a spot to eat their dinner.

He picks the wall where he and Newt had found Thomas that one night, sleeping.

He’d scared them (scared Minho) when he’d just disappeared like that. Gally wasn’t so rash as to actually hurt Thomas, but Minho had wondered for a while if someone else had.

Thomas comes sprinting back in an hour early, and privately he admits to Minho that he hadn’t eaten lunch; he’d forgotten and then remembered as he’d come back.

That’s going to be Minho’s excuse for still running with him rather than letting him run alone. Thomas needs to eat; he can’t forget every day and remain healthy.

(If he just wants more time with Thomas, then that’s okay too.)

They spend the evening in front of the bonfire with Newt and Alby, who are cuddling (as much as they try to deny it.).

It’s easy to get up, this morning, because Minho has running to look forward to today. Running with Thomas, and their date.

He’ll grab the basket from Frypan after they get back. Thomas doesn’t know what they’re doing, and Minho plans on keeping it that way.

The run starts out simply; Minho is just glad to be  _ doing  _ something again, he was getting bored. Thomas points out little things he’s seen over the past few days; that wall moved when it usually doesn’t, but is back in place today, the large cracks in that one wall, of little concern. They stop for lunch, only fifteen minutes, because Minho can see Thomas is ready to move and he is too. They clear the rest of their path in under an hour, and are making their way back.

“Ready for our date?” Minho calls, ducking under the vine Thomas throws back at him. Thomas turns to laugh, just a quick glance.

It’s enough for Minho to watch his eyes widen.

To watch as Thomas spins (he’s always been quick on his feet) and shoves him, hard.

Minho stumbles, back leg bending, hitting the stone hard.

He watches as the cracked wall, the one they had both deemed okay, fell in.

Thomas has jumped close enough to him that it--

It--

The largest piece is on Thomas’s legs, and Thomas’s head was hit, he’s bleeding slightly, and--

And he looks up at Minho and smiles.

“Think you can give me a rain check for our date?”

“Shut up, shank, I’m getting you out of here.” Minho can see another path, a Runner should be coming soon. For now, he wraps Thomas’s head and shifts some of the stone.

“What happened, Minho?” Steph, he takes a moment to remember.

“We passed this wall, cracked, this morning, and decided it wasn’t a big deal. But on our way back, it collapsed. Thomas shoved me out of the way. It’s pinning his legs. Do you think you could step over and come help?” Steph nods and they get to work.

It’s nearly sunset by the time they’ve moved all the stone off Thomas; he passed out in the middle of it, groaning in pain.

“We have to move fast. I’ll take Thomas,” Minho picks him up, carefully, they don’t know what’s wrong with his legs. “You go ahead and tell them to have a stretcher or something ready for when we get back.” Minho starts running; he’s fast, but with Thomas, it’s going to take longer and that’s time they can’t afford. They won’t survive another night. Steph passes him quickly, and Minho pushes harder. Thomas jolts, then screams.

It’s the first time he’s screamed this entire time and it almost makes Minho fall to his knees.

“Thomas, you’re going to be okay, I’m getting you back, hold on, hold on, hold on.” Minho keeps repeating this as long as he can, and Thomas quiets slightly, hooks his arms around Minho’s neck, and Minho can feel the tears through his shirt.

Minho doesn’t want to think about how much this must hurt.

He can see the hall to Doors, one turn left and they’ll be there, be safe, and Thomas will get treated and everything will be fine.

Minho  _ runs _ .

They make it.

Clint and Jeff take Thomas away, and Minho tries to follow, but Newt’s arm is around his shoulders and he’s being lead a different direction.

“Clint and Jeff will handle it. Thomas is going to be fine.”

Minho doesn’t know how, but he gets up the next morning.

Runs the Maze.

Draws up his map and then stops to see Thomas.

He’s sleeping, legs propped up and wrapped, a bandage on his head.

“He’s got a broken ankle. Left leg. His lower back isn’t looking too good, either.” Jeff says, looking out the door.

But Clint looks him straight in the face and says “I’m not sure if he’ll walk any time soon, let alone run. We’ll have to see when he wakes up.”

Minho makes it through the next week somehow, sitting by Thomas when he’s not in the Maze and talking to him quietly.

Thomas wakes up when Minho’s gone, but he’s out again by the time Minho comes back. Minho sleeps in the chair, that night, and doesn’t leave the next morning because Thomas is awake and won’t let go of his hand.

“Hey, Min. Good to see even you have bedhead.”

“Thomas!”

“I woke up yesterday and asked for you. You still owe me a date.”

“Later, Thomas, later.” Thomas knows, of course, how bad his injuries are. Minho doesn’t take off days often, but every two weeks or so during Thomas’s recovery, he spends a day with him (after three years straight of running the Maze, he thinks he deserves it).

It’s so as bad as they thought, originally. Thomas has all sensation in his legs, still and he’s using crutches within the week when he wakes up.

“He’ll be running again sooner rather than later; now that he’s moving again, we can’t get him to sit still.” Taking that as permission, Minho goes to Frypan again, who readily agrees to make up a basket.

“You better actually use it this time.”

“We will,” Minho promises. He and Thomas leave the Glade early in the afternoon, because Thomas’s crutches slow him down, and settle into the spot Minho had picked out weeks ago. Thomas sits, left leg out in front of him, back against the wall. Minho sits next to him and opens the basket.

“Oh, Frypan gave us the good stuff.” Sandwiches, cookies, even some weird pasta salad that Minho doesn’t want to touch, but Thomas looks excited about it.

“What is this?” Minho asks him.

“It’s something I helped Frypan come up with. The noodles are leftover vegetables, cause we don’t have yeast to spare. It’s really good.” Right. Thomas has spent his days with pretty much full run of the place since he got back on his feet. “I’ve been spending most of my time in the kitchen. I can’t go anywhere else without hurting something.”

“Is the Glade really that dangerous?” Minho frowns. They haven’t had many severe injuries over the years, so he wouldn’t know.

“No, not myself, Min. I can’t garden or anything because of the crutches. I can’t wait to run with you again.”

“It won’t be too long.” They eat more slowly than Minho has in years, and just talk. Not about getting out.

Minho doesn’t want to think about getting out, not right now.

Not when Thomas wouldn’t be able to come with them.

“It’s getting dark, we should get back.” Thomas is smiling at him, soft and happy.

“In a minute.” Minho murmurs, taking Thomas’s face in his hands gently and leaning in. “May I?”

“Yes, please.” It’s careful, searching, shy, but it’s what they need right now.

“You know,” Thomas, having forgone his crutches, is leaning against Minho as they walk back. “I wouldn’t mind having a boyfriend, if he like were you.”

“And when would you mind?”

“If he were like Gally, or Alby, or Newt,” Thomas tells him, and Minho laughs.

“I don’t mind having a boyfriend, either, as long as he’s you.” They return to the Glade just as dark falls, but don’t bother going to the fires. A night in, Thomas lying on Minho’s chest, leg propped up, spent talking, sounds far more interesting anyway.

(The next day, they start a new routine: Minho brings breakfast to Thomas before the sun even rises, and they watch the day begin together.)

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone!  
> Hope you enjoyed, as always.  
> Let me know what you thought! Comments and kudos are always appreciated.  
> As always,  
> Nix


End file.
